Code blue bikes and dance
by Charzoid
Summary: Mikan's constant helping only puts her in trouble but thankfully she has someone to to help her in the end for a change. Also shout out to Oliva9 for helping me edit and read over everything. Rated T for swearing and some suggestive humor.


**Hi everyone! Long time no reads huh? I hope everyone's life is going great and if not then it gets better soon. I've been working on this fic for a hot minute and this rare pairing has so few fics I could stack the number on a grain of rice. I'll get to updating my other fics before the year is over hopefully. I have zero sense of time and this entire year feels like it just started yesterday. I took one glance at my last updates and thought I was seeing things. Hope this will at least make up for it a bit. **

**upupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupu**

There were three times Mikan helped the injured and it caused her trouble this month.

It was only after the fourth time that she was the one who got injured and received help healing.

From a very young age Mikan Tsumiki learned that any mess either she or someone else made of a body, it was her job to mend it. For the longest it didn't seem wrong.

A responsible nurse is meant to do as her patients ask while injured, right? It would be wrong morally and clinically to leave the wounded to themselves.

All she could do was give people advice on how to avoid injury and sickness before hand. If they got hurt or sick after the fact then it was just a mess she should of seen coming. A mark off on her ability to be a good nurse. Still, hope's peak still kept her in their books as the perfect ultimate nurse so she must of been doing something right. This was as positive as she could think at least. Better than the her past constantly self deprecating.

Her friends would tell her repetitively that if she wasn't a good nurse the school wouldn't of had her here. At least the kinder of her friends like Hajime, Ibuki, and Mahiru would say so. Ones like Hyoko would say she was probably just meant to be a reserve course loser.

Mikan truly loved all the interesting and quirky people she made friends with at hope's peak even if sometimes she wondered why they liked her so much. Although she liked them and enjoyed helping them, there were times she wished they'd be more careful. They tended to get a little to excitable which could resort in fairly messy clean ups when there were other things she felt like doing. With an upcoming homecoming event she had to sort through many messes as is.

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Mess 1 happened within the first week of the month with Kazuichi Soda. He was in charge of some kind of firework machine but got distracted by Sonia walking past him in a new dress. In his distracted state he knocked some gun powder over and dropped his blow torch directly into it. Why would the ultimate mechanic of all people think it was smart to have such an explosive substance within range of fire? Not even any of the ultimate detectives there could answer that one. Dumb luck rivaling Nagito is pretty much the only explanation he didn't lose his legs along with his entire lower torso that day.

He got severe burns and bruises on them but he'd be good by the time the dance came, though she advised he didn't strain them.

Of course just as she was about to order a pretty lavender dress with only a few in stock within her price range, he came in complaining that his legs were unnaturally painful. Despite her advice he had decided to challenge Gundam Tanaka in a race of all things to see who got to ask Sonia to the first dance. Not only did he lose spectacularly but he reopened wounds making infection set in. She tended to him as fast as possible of course. Sadly, when Mikan got back to her computer all the purple dresses were sold out. She wasn't upset at Kazuichi though since she probably should of been more clear on what not straining them meant.

"Why are you always crying every other time I see ya?" Mondo Oowada asked this right as he found her crying over the loss of her dress. She did this while staring at her laptop in the school cafeteria. They had an odd relationship since they only ever talked either occasionally in class or when she had to patch up his almost weekly to bi-weekly injuries. Unlike some people he did actually follow her advice for at least the most part.

He'd sit with her at lunch as a thank you with minimal talking. It made her a little anxious at first because of both his reputation and appearance were fairly intimidating. She slowly learned other then his tendency to yell and get in more fights then healthy he wasn't too scary. Although it took a while the anxious atmosphere turned comfortable. Again this is when he wasn't screaming.

Rubbing away the tears and remembering this time to not apologize when people found her crying, she told him about both the dress and Kazuichi.

"That guy was a dumbass for not listening, if I was you I would of just let some other nurse or doctor here deal with it. You ain't the only nurse around." The biker said bluntly.

"I...I guess that's true but I felt bad for him. It's in my nature to help the injured. Maybe if I had just been more clear ab-" Mondo promptly cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Fuck that Mikan, no one in this school is 5 damn years old! If they can't listen and figure out what you meant the first time that's their problem."

Although Mikan was use to his sudden rises in volume she still squeaked in reflex. Then she just sighed while nodding before speaking and looking down again.

"E-e-even so it doesn't matter either way now. I don't have any dress and I can't afford one cheaper then that one." She stuttered

The biker was silent for a few seconds lost in thought as he scratched the back of his head. Then to her surprise he made a rather obvious in retrospect suggestion.

"Well, I don't know shit about dresses but doesn't this school have like a fashion club or somethin? Can't ya ask that nerdy blue haired chick in charge of it to help you out? They're probably taking this whole dumb dance thing as a chance to show off and doll up whoever asks for free." He said with a shrug. Mikan realized he wasn't exactly wrong but still…

"Umm, I've never spoken to them before. The dresses they display in the school newspaper are beautiful but I get to nervous to go in the club and browse alone. I don't want to take up anyone's time going with me and a-a lot of my friends are pretty busy." She stuttered half into her explanation. After showing his impatience towards people who don't try harder to help themselves she though he'd berate her, make fun of her and leave. Mondo seemed to be on a roll with helping today because once more to both her surprise and relief he did the opposite.

"If it bothers ya that much to go alone I could go with ya. I don't got nothin better to do after school." he said

She almost wound up crying out of happiness and confusing him for a second. He was confused even harder when they arrived at the fashion club. Instead of attacking Mikan with every girly sales pitch in the book, it was Mondo himself they went after first. They showed him a book of their latest popular tuxedos and all the colors they came in. Including ALL shades per color that he was positive had to be half made up in existence.

Who the hell sat down to even think up 105 shades for black, really?

After being practically smothered with knowledge of tuxedos worn by anime guys that he couldn't care less about for 5 minutes he finally spoke. "Okay, okay, enough already! I ain't even say I was going to the dumbass event. Only reason I'm even here is because of her needin to look at your froufrou stuff not me." Honestly he thought she was going to pass out at some point from only inhaling once in Tsumugi's entire sales pitch. That should of been an ultimate talent category all of within itself.

Realizing all eyes were now, Mikan blushed from the attention. Then she presented them with a photo of the dress she wanted. It was a mermaid dress with light lavender purple body and dark purple flowers on the sleeves. Small dark purple lilies sewn from bottom of the dress while parallel along her legs and stopping at where the knees would be.

Junko, Sayaka, and Tsumugi all looked at the dress for a few seconds before telling her they could work on something close to it for a low fee. While Sayaka and some other club members went to work, the remaining girls annoyed Mondo into wearing at least one tux even if he claimed he wasn't going. Not wanting another Tsumugi fashion lecture he gave in but declared he was only going to try on one for a few seconds.

They were able to squeeze him into a black pearl colored vest style tux and long sleeved white undershirt that fit his shoulders well. Mikan had seen him in shirtless plenty of times but for some reason the way the material hugged his body and showed off his muscles more made her stare. The high collar brought a lot of attention to his strong jaw and neck. Everything about Mondo screamed strength but this look gave him an air of class as well. It dawned on her that as much as time she spent helped healing him she never really touched his jawline much. For whatever reason she wanted to feel the strength of those jaws. Doing what to her exactly? Her face heated and heart rate increased at the possibilities.

This wasn't the first time her mind had traveled this route around the biker and she felt wrong in thinking someone like him would like her back. Clearly he'd be more into someone strong, confident, positive, more attractive, and assertive. People like maybe Akane, Sonia, or maybe even that kind of scary girl with red eyes who asked people if they wanted to die regularly. She couldn't dismiss even some of the other guys here like Kiyotaka. At least if those rumors that were short lived about their brotherhood being a cover in the past held any truth.

Still he looked even more handsome than usual this way so what she hoped was just internal blushing couldn't be helped.

While trying to look elsewhere she noticed something big and steel pressed up close to her face which made her snap out of her daydream with a small yelp.

"Upupupu! We can't have you ruining the clothes with all your drooling. You might as well take this." Junko laughed with a knowing smile.

Mondo was thankfully too distracted with looking in the mirror trying to figure out how the bow tie worked to notice any of this.

Had she really been drooling or was Junko making a mean joke? Embarrassed in either case she whipped her face only to find nothing. Was it just her was the room suddenly warmer?

"Remember your only renting these looks for the party. You two love birds better not do anything indecent in these outfits or we're going to charge you extra for the cleaning bill." Junko cackled much to the mortification that crossed both her face and Mondo's.

"W-What the fuck is that suppose to mean!?" Mondo screamed red faced either from embarrassment, anger, or both at the implications.

"Well you did say you came here for her right? Why even lie about it? We're all teens going to dance that I will obviously bring the booze to. Now this material might be enduring but a jock like you might definitely rip it if you do it in an alley so maybe the love hotel not far down the block? I hear from Miu the carpets are pretty soft for-!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU PERVY BITCH! Me and Mikan are just friends! I don't even think of her like that." Mondo exclaimed in anger. Both his and Mikan's faces were approaching one of the 122 shades of red as the fashionista rambled her lewd implications.

Junko wasn't fazed in the slightest by his screaming and continued to talk with a big smirk on her face.

"Oh? Are you saying you don't find Mikan attractive? Calling her ugly like that seems pretty cruel of you even for a gang leader."

"Don't put fuckin words in my mouth, I never said she was wasn't pretty. There's plenty guys here that find her attractive." He dodged the question.

Tsumugi seemed to find that now was the time to chime in on the embarrassment hour.

"That wasn't really Junko's main question Mondo. She's asking if she's pretty to you not other guys. Is she?"

By the grace of some divine deity or another, Mondo was saved from having to answer that in front of Mikan because Sayaka had returned to take Mikan in the back for fitting. He could now completely ignore them and not embarrass himself in front of Mikan with answering. The looks on all the girls faces with the exception of Mikan seemed to already know the answer anyways.

The idea of asking her out went as fast it came since he knew she'd likely say no. His nerves tended to whined up making him yell at most girls he wanted to ask out in the past scaring them away.

He had a humiliating 25 losses in that regard. Even if they just stayed friends in their time after graduation he didn't want to scare her away. Yeah it was a nurse's job to be nice and help but they never had to be polite off the clock which Mikan was to him as well as others. She really listened to him when he would rant about his problems at home or school. She didn't judge him for what he looked like or his title which he appreciated greatly. The easiest way to him in not ruining things with his feeling was pretending to have none. Good plan on paper right?

Well the nurse in question wasn't making it easy with how she looked coming out of the room. Instead of flowers on her sleeves she had silky bows. One particularly large one right at the center of her chest with a medium diamond in the center. It was also darker plum purple then the original picture with the flower designs done in black. It stop just slightly above her knees giving a nice view of her curvy legs. Despite what he just tried to deny 4 minutes ago it left him staring like a cupid struck idiot.

"M-m-mondo? How do I-I look?" Mikan asked nervously.

_"Should I say she's hot casual like so she's not nervous? Maybe say sexy but in a casual way? Is there a platonic and casual way to even say sexy to someone? Smokin?"_ Out of all ways to give a straightforward and non-flirty remarks he could think of he only found 2 brilliant words.

"Uh, damn." Mondo finally said and then immediately face palmed himself for sounding like a nervous dweeb. He wasn't sure if he was blushing more at his stupidity, Mikan's cute confused expression, or Junko's annoying ass weird laughter in the background.

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Mess 2 happened with Hifumi a week later.

He came to her with deep nasty splinters all over his hands from trying to make some kind of anime inspire wooden sculptures. Apparently there were some type of wooden figures for prizes he was helping with. Him and the ultimate artist Angie were suppose to work on together for the upcoming party. She ran really late due something allegedly having to do with Atua and Kiyo. Hifumi hurt his hands having to do and redo the sculptures by himself without Angie to guide him. Mikan was then asked if she could go out of her way to a hardware store out of town for tools after school. He broke half of them and Angie was very particular about the types of tools she wanted to work with. With his hands all blistered up and still healing he couldn't drive to the store himself.

When Mikan asked why didn't Angie just go instead, he screamed in fear which made Mikan also scream in fearful confusion.

Hifumi apparently had to lie to Angie about misplacing the tools instead of breaking them because a mad Angie is a lot scarier then one might think. Just telling her he misplaced them got him chased around with a sculpting hammer while getting lectured on Atua's wrath over carelessness. He'd only be forgiven if he found them. Mikan being the kind of person who didn't wish to see the medical results of Atua's wrath on either Hifumi or herself, agreed.

What she didn't mention to Hifumi was that she was planning to schedule a hair appointment with possibly Mahiru taking her if she wasn't busy after school. The salon in question stayed open for a few hours after school but the store with the tools Mikan needed was an hour trip tops both going and coming back. As luck or bad luck would have it, Mahiru came down with a cold that day and was feeling too sick to take her.

Her other friends were all busy with one thing or another. The buses didn't go that route so she did the only logical thing she could think of in this situation.

Mikan went straight to the cafeteria again to wallow once more.

Upon finding the young nurse looking more down then usual again at lunch, Mondo asked what was wrong and she told him.

"Oh c'mon even with as big ass a nerd he is the dude has friends too. He could of asked Makoto, Leon, or just bout anyone besides you to do that. You should just go make your appointment and not care what happens to that chicken nerd. He probably just asked you cause your outfit reminded him of one of those trashy anime fetishes he writes."

"H-huh? You think I'm trashy? Your probably right though." Mikan sighed sadly.

_"Fuckin good goin Oowada. How bout you just deck her next?"_ He sarcastically thought to himself.

"No! I mean no that's not what I meant, you ain't trashy. I meant the stuff he writes make jobs like yours trashy in mangas. You're cu- I mean not trashy!" He didn't need to shout that last part but it seemed to at least make her smile a bit so he felt that was good save. He cleared his throat then did those dumb breathing exercise his anger management teacher talked about doing to calm down before speaking.

"Eh, anyways I can take you on my hog to the store if you want to." He suggested.

"Oh no, you went with me last time I needed something. I don't want to waste your time again and especially not when your gang probably needs you for punching pools and stuff." Mondo had to chuckle a little at that one.

"First off it's called shootin pool and second it's my time to waste however I want. Perks of being a leader is my hours are whenever I fell like em or not. Besides we've kind of been driftin apart a bit with the guys gettin into jobs or talkin bout colleges. Doesn't even bother me to much anymore though. Remember what I said about going to trade school to be a carpenter when I graduate? Might as well grab some gear to practice on shit with while we go." He explained

"Oh right, I nearly forgot about that, please forgive me. I know I haven't mentioned it often but I really do think that's a great goal for you to pursue. It's always nice to plan ahead like that." She said in reflex. Just like his management with anger had improved, hers with constant apologizing did to but still slipped in every now and again. He held none of them against her either.

"Nothin to apologize for but thanks. I know I don't say it a lot either but it always means a lot to hear you say what you think to me ya know?" Mondo said with a smile that made her smile a little bit bigger back.

The duo ate in a much more comfortable silence that day until the end of the day. Ever since the events at the fashion club speaking had become an even more awkward endeavor but it seemed things returned to there comfortable atmosphere slowly.

Other then one of Mikan's signature clumsy tripping into a question position both getting in and out of the passenger car things went smoothly on the shopping adventure. Mondo probably broke 3 different speeding laws getting them there but nothing to troublesome happened until it was time to leave. "Good thing I decided to get the extra wide side seat with a case or this crap would be annoyin to drive with." Mondo laughed to himself.

After stuffing the seat and back basket, he mounted his bike before noticing that Mikan was still standing there just seeming to stare at him nervously.

"Whatcha just standing there for? C'mon wasn't the whole point of this trip to get this shit back to the nerd before the shop closes?" He asked

Mikan still stood there while looking anxious about something while staring at his bike like she was suddenly scared it would come to life.

This finally made him look over at the side seat, then back to Mikan a few times before it eventually clicked. Mikan for all her positives was clumsy and accident prone in a way that it deserved it's own category at hope's peak. Mondo's side car was currently occupied with nails, hammers, saws, sharp chisels, and various other things that would be very, very painful to accidentally fall upon.

Even if he secured them with a seat belt Mikan would likely get struck by a stray piece of the hardware in someway or another if she sat beside it all. Mikan had no place to sit and a part of him started to sweat just a little at making his next choice of words.

The cherry on top of all this? The moisture coming down his neck wasn't just sweat but rain. Was this that Atua's wrath she mention earlier?

"It doesn't have to be weird or nothin but you'll have to just ride on my back seat. Don't worry about the rain neither, just take my jacket. I ain't gonna try nothin funny ya know?"

The nurse blushed but nodded with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I know, I know th-that I can trust you with my security. That's something I rarely do or feel and I wouldn't of come out with you alone if I didn't feel safe."

"Good." He was never more thankful in his life that this helmet covered most of his face as it also turned red when she wrapped her armed around his stomach.

The rain luckily wasn't to bad but the feeling of an attractive purple haired girl being pressed against him almost distracted him to the point of a few close collisions.

"Keep it together man, just keep it together. You guys are just friends. She thinks of you as just a friend. That blush wasn't hintin at anything. She blushes at a lot of stuff right? Sure she doesn't jump every time you shout anymore and even laughs at you when you do sometimes. I bet she even says she trusts a lot of people like..." Mondo's mind paused for a moment.

Truth be told he never heard her say she trusted many people in regard to safety. With himself included she had many more friends then when she originally arrived. She had people for company and that she trusted for advice. Few he ever heard her say she'd ever trust with her safety. Mikan told him how they didn't really ever do more the passively scold bullies or tell her to toughen up. They may not of been mean and may have helped her in bits with her confidence a lot but not much with security.

_"She trusts me with her security. Can't say I've heard somethin like that said to me before. Shit, I can't mess this up. Don't. fuck. this. up!"_ Mondo knew that it might just be him being wishful from one sentence but his desire to do something about these feeling only seemed fueled by those words. When he'd bottle anger in the past it would come out in the worst way and at the wrong people in blind rage. Never at her thankfully, also never again for years now that he's been getting therapy.

It wasn't like he was the first guy to have feelings for her either. Granted though those guys were creepy stalkers that he'd help scare off in the past when asked. He might not be the brightest guy but he wasn't an idiot. Some dude or even a chick could come swoop in and sweep her off her feet before they graduate. Then the only person he'd have any right to feel rage at would be himself. Hell even before the party it could happen. If he was going to make a move he needed to do it soon. He just didn't know how.

While Mondo debated with himself on what to do they made it back in time a good 30 minutes before the salon closed. He almost felt bad waking her with how precious she looked asleep while draped in his large black jacket. They then left the salon and arrived at her house.

If Mikan was awake she'd feel to embarrassed to admit she wanted to sleep a little longer in the jacket surrounded by the warm and smell of his cologne.

They parted ways while both wishing the ride lasted a little bit longer.

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Mess 3 happened 2 weeks after the department store adventure with Leon. He was being carried bridal style by apologetic guilty faced Akane much to his embarrassment. The red head did not look pleased with neither his position or his carrier.

Ibuki who was partly to blame for baseball player's trauma looked far to happy on the sidelines.

Nekomaru apparently needed them to set up the stage for different performances that would happen for the event. They were only asked to move a few prompts from one end of the stage to the other. Ibuki however suggested they do a quick endurance test of the instrument. Leon thought this meant he'd get to sing on stage to show off. Ibuki's idea however of endurance was doing that pretend guitar bashing some performers do at the end of shows. Akane being always a little too eager to get violent slammed her guitar for real on the ground directly on Leon's foot without realizing it. Didn't help that Ibuki's laughter at his hopping around when she slammed his foot made Akane think he was into it. Feeling a bit excited she also broke another guitar on his butt directly.

Akane's swing truly rivaled his own when it came to hitting things hard with force. He wasn't going to be sitting any time soon.

With the baseball all-star out of commission until his busted booty and foot healed, they needed someone to help carry and set up the remaining prompts.

Unlike the other requests that were asked of her to after school they wanted her to help them immediately with finishing up the moving of prompts. She asked them why didn't they ask coach Nidai. They simply shrugged and said they didn't want to be punished if they couldn't finish on time. That and she was the closest person available that didn't seem to be doing anything that another nurse couldn't sub.

It seemed pointless to point out they'd just be punished later anyway since they would have to explain the broken equipment at some point. Despite her excuses to Mondo in the past about why she caved in to requests so quickly, she knew when she was being used. She had the full ability to say no when she wanted to and right now felt tempted to do so more then ever.

She still didn't but for a different reason this time.

After everything that happened on the bike ride to the department store Mikan made it a point to overwork herself to avoid talking to Mondo. It was selfish after all he did for her to avoid him. Her stupid imagination had played with her upon thinking she'd woken up on the way home with him. It made her think she felt Mondo cupping her face gently as he wiped away the rain water. When she opened her eyes or assumed she had, his face was inches from her own. All feelings of longing, anxiousness, and heat that she'd been feeling seemed reflected right back at her in the intense yet hesitant lavender gaze. Like he was about to confess something but was hesitating.

As if he was about do something with their lips just the smallest breath apart.

Mikan heart rate increased and she closed her eyes for a few seconds only for nothing to happen. When she opened her eyes she was sitting inside her home while on the couch with no memory of going inside. Either Mondo carried her in then laid her down there or she walked in, fell asleep and forgot. Since it had been a long day she chalked everything before waking up in either case as a brief dream. First her feelings made her confess to seeing him as security and now they were making her imagine romantic scenes only meant for lovers.

Even though it felt extremely real she knew it had to be all in her head. If things continued to get out of hand she might do something really stupid like confess and ruin their friendship. A friendship that like many of Mikan's other friendships seemed like a miracle to exist to her. He didn't like things being pushed on him that he didn't want to deal with, so why would he want to deal with this? Why would he want to deal with her selfish feelings?

Yes he helped her twice already despite not needing to and even risked multiple speeding tickets in the process. Mondo even admitted to liking when she said what was on her mind. He was patient when she'd stuttered about something difficult. Still that couldn't of meant more then just him being friendly. Unless...

"Yo Melissa, you doing okay? You're looking out of it some." Akane asked while getting her name wrong.

The nurse just sighed but just muttered a yes before continuing to move around the medium sized prompt pieces. One perk of overworking yourself was that your nerves are almost to distracted to be bothered by much around you. Certain oversized things made her uncomfortable usually but these prompts were just large enough that it wasn't to bothersome. Things went well for the first 10 minutes before Ibuki mentioned something on a high shelf that needed to be lowered with a hook. The ultimate gymnast volunteered to do it alone but Ibuki insisted she have help since it was a two person job. They needed to take off the tarp, hold the ropes in place, and all while someone used the lever system to lower it. Leon's upper torso was fine for help in this but ,he claimed he didn't want to put too much pressure on his injuries. Once more she quickly complied thinking nothing could hurt in helping.

She was proven wrong within minutes.

First red flag was that the prompt looked bigger compared to the others then she anticipated with the higher she got. The next was the ropes, although she could handle the big weight due to moving grown adults in hospitals, the pressure made her wobbly. If not for Akane putting some supporting arm pressure to her back she would of fallen a few times. The last was neither of them noticing their harness weren't properly locked when they made it to the top.

Standing on a beam above the prompt they got to work. Both proceeded to untie the tarp's cover binding to reveal the most gigantic and realistic looking tiger prompt they'd ever seen. It's large glass eyes glared into Mikan's very soul. She could practically feel herself being sucked into it's horrifying maw, gigantic claws crushing her until there was nothing. It's presence towering her in an attempt to suffocate her.

"No, no, no, no, it's in your head Mikan, only in your head, it can't hurt you, it won't you. Just breath, breath, breath, just try to bre-" Despite her internal chanting it wasn't working. It was as if it really was something that that wanted to crush her just taunting her to put down her guard. Then it would crush her lungs. Even though it was just in her brain it felt like she physically couldn't breath. She moved backwards in reflex on the beam.

"H-Hey Maggie! Maggie what's wrong?! Yo watch where your movin your gonna-!" Akane leaped over in an attempt to grab her but wound up pushing them both over the edge. Ibuki cried out in a panic when she noticed they harnesses had unhooked but it was to late as they started to fall. All while falling Mikan couldn't help but think one thing.

_"This is...my karma isn't it?"_

And how could it not be? After telling her repeatedly to not cave into every request. Those many months of comfortable lunches, mid patch up chatting, and going out of his way to help her in messes she put herself in. She payed back someone she called her security with avoiding him, neglected her health, and took up a stupid dangerous request.

Now she was falling to if not death's embrace, probably a coma just cause she didn't say no. It was never cause she couldn't but because she just didn't bother while knowing it would lead to something like this one day. All this cause she didn't want to grow a spin and confess to a dumb crush. A crush that really for all his patients might of even returned her lo-.

Her mental berating's were cut off by the sudden embraces of strong and broad arms catching her. They felt to big to be Ibuki and to muscular to be Leon's.

"Damn it, you okay Mikan!?" asked a familiar gruff voice she'd just been thinking of.

Opening her eyes she looked up to see Mondo's face. Unlike the last time she had seen it this close his face was one of fear, concern, and a bit of suppressed anger.

"What the hell were you doing up there?" Before she could muster it in her to speak the others chimed in.

"Oh my god, I didn't make sure your harnesses were right I'm so sorry Mikan!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"I knew you didn't look well earlier Margret but I didn't know you were that bad. Shit I'm lucky I know how to land on my feet from falls like that but I couldn't catch you in time. I shoulda said something, I'm sorry." Akane apologized as well.

"That was a bad ass save back there Mondo! Maybe you should join my old baseball team some time? They always need a good runner." Leon didn't even bother asking about her.

Taking in the trio's comments made Mondo look at them before looking back at Mikan, then after looing up at where she had fallen it all seemed to click. His caring eyes glossed over darkly for a second as he put her down fully before turning back to the three. Although she couldn't see what face he was making she could of sworn she heard him make a low hissing snarl. The way the other teens all turned pale while backing up confirmed it was probably not a look she wanted to be on the receiving end of. Then in an angry low but just loud enough voice for them to hear he said one thing.

"Megalophobia." he said.

When what he said was met with still fearful but now confused faces he explained with a bit more volume now.

"It ain't a word or thing I thought I'd need to know about. She told me only once about it when I noticed in one of our classes together on a movie day. A maltese like mine was on the screen taking up the whole wall. Looked more gigantic then normal. I thought at first she was scared of dogs. Brought my own dog to school later that day to show her they ain't scary. Then she told me about it."

That last part had a bit of fondness in his voice from the memory.

"It means certain things that are bigger then they usually are scare her real bad and it can be different from person to person. It can be the ocean, skyscrapers, or in her case animals are her worst trigger. You guys have known her longer then me so did she ever bring this up?" Mondo asked.

Their collective looks of guilt while staring at the floor was all the answer he needed.

"So let me get this straight. You fucking _**knew**_ she wasn't feeling well, all of you **_knew_ **she wouldn't say no to helping don't fuckin try to deny that, and you **_knew_ **there was shit in here that could freak her out. All of you fuckin knew this and still made her do it?! WHAT KIND OF PIECES OF SHIT FRIENDS ARE YOU?!" He yelled while cracking his knuckles and advanced one them every time he said the word knew. They stepped back as far as they could in response and Leon was quivering especially bad. Everyone knew of his bro code to not hurt girls but that just meant Leon was probably going to get 3 beatings instead of just one. Mikan couldn't take this anymore.

She got in front of him with both arms raised as if to physically stop him if possible.

"Mondo please don't be too mad at them, I know they used me but this is my fault cause-." He cut her off with an irritated tone.

"How many times do I have to say stop making excuses for people Mikan?! Look, I know we haven't hung out in a while which partly my bad for trying to get my head clear on things I already knew. That don't mean I don't care anymore if shitty people try to-" Mikan cut him off this time.

"I agreed to all this to keep avoiding you!" She blurted out.

There was 10 second pause of staring that felt like it stretched for eternity before he responded. Previous rage was momentarily forgotten as his voice was back to a normal indoor one.

"Huh? Avoiding me for what? What did I do to make you feel the need to...shit! Shit, I knew it must of looked creepy when you looked at me after I carried you inside. I swear on a man's honor I wasn't gonna try nothin. There's been somethin buggin me for the longest now to say but I chickened out. I hate being weak with stuff like this." The biker confessed.

"N-no, it's not just you. Like I said, I was the one trying to avoid you. It was because of something that's been on my mind for a long time too. Everyone gets scared at some point and that's normal. If it makes you feel better at least you didn't work yourself tired then agree to something dangerous knowing you couldn't handle it. I- I really want to talk about it now. The first thing I learned about nursing is ripping the bandage off quick to get things over with. Not doing it for a long just cause it's gonna hurt will lead to infection and make a bad injury worse. I should of done the same with this."

Mikan was swaying a bit as she cried through her words.

"Hey easy, easy, I agree with ya and I'm a bit upset but like I said it I should of manned up too, so I ain't gonna let ya take all the blame for this. I'll forgive you if you forgive me to okay?" he asked

"O-okay. I do and I feel glad to be forgiven. Now, I need to-to-to say.." She smiled shyly as she spoke but was still swaying lot. Mondo kept her steady with a firm but gentle grip on both her shoulders.

"Geez, you must of really overworked yourself bad. We'll definitely talk after ya get some shut eye in the nurse's office." The biker then proceeded to carry her off the stage. She passed out against him almost instantly as he cradled her. Before Mondo got half way off stage without looking any of them in the face, he addressed the forgotten company.

"I hope you three don't think just cause she forgives ya means I do too. While she's resting I'm gonna tell coach Nidai, and the principal about this shit and that it happened cause of your lazy bullshit." He said harshly.

Then without waiting for any excuses or pleas for him to do otherwise he left them to their fates.

It was 5 hours later that she woke up laying in one of the school's hospital beds feeling a bit more refreshed. Looking out a nearby window she saw it was long past school hours by how dark it was. Mikan was confused temporarily as to why she was still at school since she didn't recall taking night classes.

A loud sudden snore made her hop a little as she turned to see Mondo sleeping in a nearby chair. Everything that transpired earlier came flooding back and made her blush a bit in how embarrassing her actions were despite him forgiving her.

She must of screamed a bit when she hopped cause he started to stir from his nap to look at her.

_"If I remember right he said he was guilty as well because of something he was scared to say. He gets scared just like me, the least I can do is be honest. I-I have to rip off the bandage now."_ She mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

"Huh? Hey your awake, you feelin better?" He asked and got a nod in response.

"S-so none of what happened before I woke up was just a dream this time right? Just checking."Mikan said.

"Hehe, nope though I kinda wish it happened different but it is what it is." Mondo scratched the back of his head as he spoke walking over to her. Mikan sat upright to give him some room to sit on the bed next to her with just enough space that their knees weren't touching.

"Okay I-!" They said at the same time.

They paused only to resume talking over one another back and forth with Mondo talking first.

"Ah, you first seriously I-."

"No, no it's okay you go ahead, I know you said this was equal o-our faults but still..."

"Nah, your the one who almost got her lights knocked out it the least I could do since.."

"I'm fine now honestly, it only happened because I was being unfair to you after all your help and advice. I know I need to not being so quick to cave but I think it's only partly at times cause-"

"There's just a lot of pressure people put on ya being in a gang ya know? Then I add that to that shit by putting extra on myself all cause-"

"Yes! I mean yes, pressure no one needs builds up just cause you want to prove your competent for both your job and beyond to-"

"Exactly! I don't want be in this forever and especially not alone so I've tried clicking with others but-"

"When you try to do for others for that acknowledgement it just adds negative stuff. You especially don't want that when you want to do something nice for yourself every now and again."

"Then when nice things are rare in your life you don't know how to handle showing you appreciate them right it's-"

"It's completely right to want that nice thing. You shouldn't be afraid to go for that nice thing before anything else like a dress, a hair appointment, m-m-maybe.."

"Yeah, maybe even a person ya know? A person who's kind, says what they think and, does little stuff they don't need to so long as they taking care of themselves to."

"If that person doesn't take care of themselves cause of there confidence I want to say something to them like how much I-"

"Need to let them no matter what their flaws that you.."

"Love them!" They said this at the same time before both turning red in surprise. There was a silence again but this time Mikan broke it first.

"Y-y-you really mean it? I didn't think I was your type." She said in genuine surprise.

Nodding yes he couldn't help but laugh hard at the whole situation which made her giggle to.

"I know you said everyone gets scared but I still feel like an idiot letting it get to this point." he said

"I feel the same but now I don't really know what we should do. Although I...I do actually have something I've been meaning to ask, if you don't mind. Do you want to go to homecoming? I know you said you thought it was dumb but.." Mikan trailed off.

"Sure, I was actually just embarrassed to say I couldn't find a date and didn't know if you liked me like that. I kind of assumed you had someone else in mind to ask too. " Mondo said honestly. Feeling a bit more confident now, he reached for her hand and held it.

"I don't care if other people think your not my type you know? So long as you want me as much as I want you I don't think it matters. Do you feel the same?" He asked.

Mikan was so happy at hearing this she almost cried but mustered up her own boldness instead with embracing him in a hug and saying she felt the same.

The night of the dance would be only one of many nights where they could be as care free as that embrace.

**upupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupupup**

**Oh my god this took to long. I have whole bunch of other fics I've been putting off updating cause I was trying to finish this even though I didn't really need to. I started it way back around Mondo's birthday I think. I had smudge more I wanted to happen after the confession but it isn't the end of the world they didn't happen here. Plenty other future fic to procrastinate writing and make happen. I don't hate ishimondo or Chihiro/mondo but I feel like there at least a few other ships possible for him. We have over 48 characters in this cluster buck of a crazy school universe. Why not mix it up every once in a while? I got inspired to do this from watching the Talent development plan interactions with these two. It was to sweet to resist.**


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